Elite coaching special - Nic Bideau, coach to Craig Mottram

London 2012 - Opportunity missed
While he spend much of the year based just around the corner from UK Athletics’ endurance performance centre Nic does not have much involvement with UKA.

He says a challenge for any governing body is the number of athletes it has to deal with. He sees some good work being done by UKA but is also concerned by what he does not see.

Nic said: “I met Dave Collins, but I didn’t write down his phone number. I didn’t get the impression that he could teach me a whole lot about athletics. The marks out of ten system made me laugh. Why do you need a mark out of ten? They give medals to determine how well you do.”

“If I sat down and spoke to him at length I may find he has a great plan for the sport. But from what I see there is no system in place ready to change what will happen in 2012. It’s a missed opportunity. I have done some work with Mo and there may be a few random people who can be helped by other individuals but there is not the structure or the set up to regularly produce results year in year out and generation after generation.

“You need to be working with 15 to 16-year-old kids. I’d like to see  20 to 30 young guys just getting fit and learning how to train - running some decent times for 1500m and 3K but basically getting fit and enjoying it so as more youngsters could be attracted to be involved. You should be looking to other sports, seeing who can run, and getting the 15-year-olds who have ability and personality a greater awareness of our sport. Get them interested – take them away, may be to something like the World Cup last weekend where they would have seen Mottram winning – someone who’s like them, and get them enthusiastic about the possibility of them doing the same one day. I don’t see that existing.”

Nic believes that the club structure in Britain, which was once the lifeblood of the sport, has also suffered: “The system of clubs was so good in years gone by but they have been let down. I’d like to be able to send my children to a club would there would be supervision and always be people there aged 10, 12, 15 training two or three times a week and getting fit and enjoying the sport. That system needs more support. If it doesn’t get it in five years time Britain will be in the same place or worse.”

While some may talk of the state of the sport without offering solutions or alternatives Nic is doing what he can to help Britain enjoy success. “I have got my own operation and I’d like to have some British athletes involved in it. Britain has a great tradition in this sport with so many of the greatest champions we’ve known. I spend a lot of time here and like the British so I want to help athletes like Andy Baddeley and Becky Lyne to fill the void that has been left. If I find another one with the right attitude I’d try to help them too.”



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